


Worthiness

by stargatefan_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Character Death, Drama, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Smarm, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-06-27
Updated: 2004-06-27
Packaged: 2018-10-06 20:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10343556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stargatefan_archivist/pseuds/stargatefan_archivist
Summary: SPOILERS : Enigma, There But For The Grace Of God, The Enemy Within, Forever In A Day and Thor’s ChariotSUMMARY : An ancient artifact on a deserted planet promises unlimited energy and vast technical knowledge, but at what cost?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Yuma, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [Stargatefan.com](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Stargatefan.com). To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [StargateFan Archive Collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/StargateFan_Archive_Collection).

Worthiness

## Takes place in Season 3, a few months prior to Shades of Gray

# P39-8367 – 0730 Tuesday

The wormhole burst forth from the Stargate and solidified a moment later into its usual water-like appearance.   SG-1 exited the wormhole and quickly scanned the area for immediate threats. Around them, the land was gray, barren and charred.  Satisfied that nothing would jump out and attack them in the next few seconds, the team relaxed slightly.

“Wow, “ exclaimed Colonel Jack O’Neill, “This place could be better coordinated.”

“Sir?” replied Major Samantha Carter.

“You know. Some color. Contrast. I’m sure something else will go better with this gray than…. more gray.”

“Yes, sir.” She replied with a grin as she removed her instruments and began to take readings.

“The UAV picked up what looks like a city about 25 miles that way. Let’s go,” O’Neill ordered and the team moved out.

“Strange that there seems to be no life anywhere,” observed Dr. Daniel Jackson. “No vegetation, no animals. I’ve not even seen a bug.”

“Perhaps there was some sort of cataclysm,” suggested Teal’c.

“Or perhaps the snakeheads paid a little surprise visit. We’ll know more when we reach the city. Besides, you should count your blessings. No plants means no tissues, no sneezes, no sno-” replied Jack.

MAJ Carter, who continued to take readings as they progressed, interrupted “Colonel! I’ve got something here.”

“What is it, Sam?” Jack replied as the team stopped to hear her analysis.

“It’s a strong radiation signature that is generating a lot of power.”

“Define a lot.” Jack requested.

“It’s off the scale, sir.   I’ve never seen a power source this strong.   It’s coming from ahead, probably from the city.”

“There’s a surprise. Keep an eye out, folks. Who knows what’s ahead. Let’s keep moving”

The team pressed on for about six hours until the city was in site. 

“O’Neill, there appear to be buildings ahead of us.”   Teal’c observed.

“Really?” Jack replied sarcastically, “Well, since they’re in walking distance…let’s walk.”

The team made their way to the city.   They found a paved road that seemed to lead to the heart of the city. As they entered the desolate and silent city, Daniel noticed something immediately.

“That’s odd,” Daniel thought out loud and then it struck him, “Jack, something’s familiar about this place.   The architecture and design is very similar to Earth’s.” 

“He’s right. These buildings look just like what you’d find back on Earth right now, sir,” Sam agreed. “This here,” she picked up a chunk of debris, “is concrete with what looks like rebar in it.”

“It’s like a ruined New York.” Daniel added.

“Oh…great. Well, we’re leaving at the first sign of talking apes.” Jack quipped, “What does this mean?”

“It means, Jack, that this civilization parallels the development of our own, although I can’t tell when it was destroyed, “ replied Daniel.

“You are correct, Daniel Jackson, “ agreed Teal’c, “This would appear to be a civilization on the same technological level as your own.”

“Did the Goa’uld do this, Teal’c?” asked Jack.

“I do not believe so, O’Neill.   The buildings appear to be intact.   I do not see any evidence of Goa’uld weaponry. Goa’uld tactics would dictate the destruction of everything. Here, it seems the structures were left alone and only the life was eradicated.”

“NBC?” Jack asked as he reaches for his protective gear.

“I don’t think so, sir. I’m not getting any readings of dangerous radioactivity and there is no indication of any known or unknown chemicals in the atmosphere or on the ground. As for biological, that is a possibility, but I find it strange that there are no bodies,” Sam answered.

“Huh?”

“I’d expect to see bodies littering the streets of a civilization doomed by plague. This place is literally a ghost town.”

“Fair enough. Where is that power source, Major?” O’Neill asked.

“This way, Colonel,” she stated as she led the team off to her left.

They walk through what looked like roads until they came across a vehicle.

“Amazing! This is a car,” observed Daniel.

“Thanks, Mr. Obvious. Ya know, this is starting to get Twilight Zone,” Jack said and then hummed the theme.

“Look,” Daniel moved to the rear of the vehicle and looked closely at it, “this looks like the model…Mercurius, I think.   It looks like a variation of Latin.”

“Well, at least it’s not a Yugo.” Jack replied.   After a moment he asked, “How is this possible?”

Carter answered, “Humans are humans, sir.   With all the humans the Goa’uld seeded throughout the galaxy and all the planets that are capable of sustaining human life, the possibility of an almost identical civilization to our own is pretty large. I’m surprised we haven’t come across this more often, actually. It definitely appears as if they were at our level of development when the civilization was destroyed.”

“The obvious question than, is what destroyed them?” Jack pointed out.

After a pregnant pause, the team began moving again towards the source of the power signal. They came across a number of other cars and trucks as well as other similarities that made the planet fairly unsettling for the team, especially because of its desolation.

“Daniel, we didn’t jump into one of your alternate realities, did we?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know.”

“I doubt it,” Sam interrupted.   The wormhole can cross extreme distances and even time, but the science as we understand it right now doesn’t allow it to cross into different realities or dimensions.”

“She’s right, Jack. My alternate reality was caused by an entirely different piece of technology.”

“OK, then what…”

“Colonel, I’ve localized the power source.   It’s inside that building up ahead.”

“What does the sign say, Daniel?”

“It appears to be some sort of museum.”

“A museum?  Why the hell would a museum hold something of this type of power?”

“There is only one way to find that out, O’Neill,” Teal’c answered as he entered the museum. The rest of the team followed, somewhat reluctantly.

They walked past multiple displays of artifacts, similar to those found in Earth museums, but unique in their own respect as well.   Daniel was having a field day, trying to take everything in and Jack constantly had to remind him of the mission.

“Look! This pottery looks similar to examples I’ve seen from Pompeii!   It says that it was found in the burial chamber of Emperor …”

“Danny! Take your hand out of the cookie jar and come here. Young man, you’re losing focus,” Jack reprimanded.

“Yeah, but…”

“Uh, uh, uh. No buts, mister. Mission first.   Play time comes later.”

“OK, OK. Hey look over here!” Daniel ran to a mummy display.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Jack moaned softly.

“Hey guys, I found something,” interrupted Sam.   “The power source is really close.   Right there, actually.”   She pointed to an empty wall with some carvings and paintings on it.

“Well, of course. It’s the wall of power. Now how do we get it back through the gate?”

“Sir, it’s behind the wall.   We just have to figure out how to get there.”

“Oh…Let’s see if there’s an entrance somewhere else, around a corner or down another hallway.”

“There are no such hallways, O’Neill.   This wall goes from one end of the building to the other.” Teal’c observed.

“Well, there’s a simple solution to that problem.   Carter, C4.”

Sam took her ruck sack off and began to open some pockets.

“Wait!” cried Daniel. “We can’t blow it up! We’ll damage this place irreparably. Think of all the knowledge we’ll lose.”

“And…” Jack prompted.

Daniel quickly searched for some way to convince Jack, “And what if we damage the power source behind the wall.”

Jack sighed, “OK. Find the way in.” He waved his hand in dismissal.

They all split up and started feeling around on the wall for an entrance. For several minutes they searched, turning up nothing. Suddenly Jack called out, “I think I’ve got something,” as he examined an out-of-place, square seam in the wall. When he put pressure on it, it slid downwards, revealing a keypad with foreign symbols on it. “Daniel, this looks like your department.”

“It’s a simple numeric keypad, like you’d find back home. This is zero, this is one, and so on up until nine.”

“Simple, huh? Then what’s the code?”

“Ummm…Well, I…”

Sam began, “It would take us forever to figure out all the permutations, unless…” she searched in another part of her rucksack, “Here it is.” She pulled a PDA from her ruck and several cables. “I’ll try to interface into this and have it run all the codes.”

“Do it. Quickly,” replied Jack.

Sam was able to pull the face off of the keypad and connect the cables from the PDA into its circuitry.   “Now let’s see if the hack works.”   She pressed the stylus to the PDA’s screen and numbers began to scroll in sequence, sending every possible combination into the keypad.  A few moments later, the keypad’s buttons flashed and a soft alarm sounded. SG-1 readied their weapons in preparation for the unknown.   Suddenly, the wall began to sink into the floor, revealing a large room before them. The team could not make out any details because the room was pitch black.   Grabbing and switching on their flashlights, the team began to make their way into the room, searching for what might be the source of the power signature.

“This appears to be some sort of lab,” Daniel observed.

“A lab in a museum? Different,” Jack replied.

“I think I found it!” Sam exclaimed.   Everyone moved to her location, which was in a far corner of the room. She examined a small, metallic cube in some sort of protective housing.   The cube was etched with dozens of intricate lines all across its surface. The housing had cabling that ran into the floor and walls.   “It looks like the building might be powered off of this.”

“Really? Then where are the lights?” Jack asked.

Daniel looked at the housing and read the labels next to several buttons, “Um, here I think.” He pressed one of the buttons and the room lit up, almost blindingly, and revealed all the inner workings of what looked like a research lab.

Looking back towards the entrance to the lab, Jack said “Well, that’s inconvenient. What do you make of this, Carter?”

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.   The cube looks removable.”   She leaned in for a closer look; “It’s got some sort of writing on it. Daniel?”

“Well, that’s strange. It seems to be just a series of dashes and dots.   It’s like no language I’ve come across before.”

“Meaning?” Jack prompted.

“Meaning, I’m stumped. It’ll take a lot more time to decipher it.”

“OK. Carter, can we take it with us?”

“I don’t see why not. The radiation levels are not dangerous, although the power signature is strong. I’d like a chance to study it more closely, sir. Maybe we can tap in and harness its power to run the SGC, or more. This is an incredibly valuable discovery.   From these readings, it might have enough energy to power the eastern seaboard indefinitely.”

“Indefinitely?”

“Yes, sir. This is not like normal radiation or a fission reaction where atoms break down and the fuel is eventually expended. From what I can tell, sir, there _is_ no fuel.”

“Now that’s too good to be true.   OK, pack it up, campers.   Let’s bring this ‘Block of Infinite Power’ back to see what makes it tick. Hell, what could go wrong?” Jack said with more than a little sarcasm.

Sam removed the cube from its housing and the lights immediately went off. Everyone fumbled for their flashlights again, while Sam packed the cube in a small, padded cargo container she took from her ruck sack. They made their way out of the museum and back to the Stargate.

**SGC – Lab – 1130 Wednesday**

Back at her lab in the SGC, Major Carter examined the cube with Dr. Jackson’s assistance.

“I’ve run every test I can think of, but nothing is giving me the data I need to figure out how this device works.   I can’t even tell what kind of radiation we’re looking at,” Sam stated, exasperated. “What have you found out, Daniel?”

Daniel sighed, also exasperated, as he looked away from the images he was studying on the computer monitor in front of him.   “Very little, actually.   I can’t make heads or tales of this. The language reminds me of Morse code, but that would be too simple now wouldn’t it? I don’t know what to make of it. God, this is frustrating!   I can’t believe General Hammond wants answers to this so quickly. Three days isn’t nearly enough time.”

“You’re telling me,” Sam agreed.   “At this rate, I won’t even be able to vaguely understand this device. But, the General is right. He won’t be able to suppress this discovery for long, and others will want to get a hold of this device for their own purposes.”

“Others, huh? I think we all know who the General is worried about.”

“Yeah…Maybourne. God knows what he’ll do with this if he get his grubby hands on it.”

“I wish I had more to go on.   There are only two symbols in hundreds of combinations.”

“Wait. Only two symbols? That could be…” Sam leaned closer to the image of the cube to get a good look at the writing.   “Holy Hannah!   It’s binary! Or some representation of it.”

“Binary?”

“Binary. It’s another way to define numbers, where all the numbers are represented in combinations of only ones and zeros. Normally, we view numbers in base 10, where the digits increase by powers of 10. Binary is base 2, which increases by powers of 2.” 

“Which is what we use to program computers.   Sam, this could be a computer language or even a program.” Daniel exclaimed with a good deal of excitement.

“Which means we might be able to program it into my PDA. I can set it for binary and have it translate this just like it broke the code in the museum on P39-8367. We’ll just need to figure out which symbols represent zero and one.”

“We’ve got a 50/50 chance.   Can’t we just guess?”

“Sure, but if we’re wrong, we’ll lose quite a bit of time reworking the problem.”

“What choice do we have?”

“You’re right, Daniel. We’ll need to get this into the computer quickly.   What’s your guess?”

After four hours of meticulously entering the binary code into Sam’s PDA, they were exhausted.

Sam stood up and stretched her aching muscles.   “I’m glad that’s done, “ she said as she removed her PDA from its portable keyboard, “My eyes are getting blurry from staring at this tiny screen for so long. How long has it been, anyway?” she asked as she simultaneously glanced at her own watch.

“Four very long, very tedious hours.”

“I hope we guessed right.”

“Oh, Sam, don’t remind me,” Daniel grimaced at the thought of having to redo the entire process because they guessed the wrong value.

“Well, it’s time to find out if we’re right,” Sam stated expectantly as she selected the option on her PDA screen that would attempt to translate the alien code. She stared at the screen, watching in wonder as the PDA attempted to make sense of the code. As it cycled sequentially through the text, it would remove sections it identified as matching a known programming command and save it into a separate file.

Daniel leaned in close to Sam in order to watch what was happening on the screen. She glanced at him briefly when she sensed his nearness and smiled.   

“This is amazing!” Daniel said in awe and then, distraught, he shouted, “Hey, it’s deleting the code!”

“Relax, Daniel,” Sam reassured him, “It’s only moving the data into a separate file and organizing the commands sequentially.”

“Oh…” he said distractedly, continuing to be mesmerized by the activity on the PDA screen.

“It’s almost done, do you think we should get the others?”

“Nah. Jack wouldn’t understand this, anyway. You’d have lost him when you defined binary.”

Sam laughed, “You’re right.   I can just hear him, ‘Ack! In English please, Major,’” she said in her best imitation of the Air Force Colonel.

The PDA beeped and the screen emptied.   Sam used the stylus to press a button that would bring up a file list. She browsed until she found the correct file.

“Here goes…” she said hopefully.   Then she executed the file.

Nothing happened.

She tried again. Still nothing. The PDA screen did not change.

Exasperated, she slumped in defeat.

“Damn! We must’ve guessed wrong,” she finally said after a long, depressed silence. She placed the PDA on the counter next to her and rubbed her eyes.

“It’s OK, Sam. At least we know what we did wrong,” Daniel suggested, trying to bolster her morale. “Why don’t we go get something to eat and then come back to this in a little while.”

“Sure,” she said reluctantly.

Daniel put his arm around her shoulders and guided her around to head for the hallway. Both froze when they turned to see the cube and their eyes grew wide, all thoughts of a meal forgotten.

It was glowing. Power flowed down the lines etched into the cube like Christmas chaser lights and all the lines terminated at a single corner of the cube.

“The program did work! It must have activated the cube remotely!” Sam stated in triumph.

“But how?” Daniel asked.

“It must have used the wireless network interface built into the PDA and sent a radio signal to activate the cube.”

“OK, now what?”

Sam didn’t answer. She moved closer to cube. The cube’s glow intensified and the chaser lights increased speed, as if it sensed her approach.

“Sam, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

Sam ignored Daniel’s warning and leaned in closer to the cube, examining the corner where the lights terminated.   “Look Daniel, “ she said in wonder, “This corner just dissolved.” Where the corner had been, a small tube stuck out of the cube. She reached out to touch it.

“Sam, don’t!” Daniel cried, but it was too late.

Enraptured by the discovery and forgetting about any potential danger, Sam touched the tube.

Nothing happened. 

Sam stood back up and turned her head to Daniel saying, “The tube is warm. The cube is generating heat. I th—“

Her words were cut off when a tight but intense beam of blue light suddenly shot out from the corner of the cube, striking Sam in the chest with such force that she was blown across the room.   She screamed in pain when the beam hit, but lost her breath when she struck the far wall. The beam continued, suspending Sam in the air against the wall.   

Daniel could only watch in horror and morbid fascination at the power the cube possessed. Quickly, he came to his senses and rushed to Sam’s aid, intending to grab her and pull her out of the beam. When he touched her, however, he was thrown backwards by a painful electric shock. Realizing he could do nothing to help his friend and teammate, he hit the alarm on the wall beside him and shouted into the intercom system to bring the cavalry and Dr. Frasier to the lab.

Daniel’s jaw dropped as he watched a blue glow emanate from the beam that suspended Sam. She writhed and screamed in pain, but could not break free.   The blue glow crawled over her body until it completely enveloped her. Her screams, now slightly muffled, still pierced Daniel’s ears and he watched mortified, as Sam’s body began to disintegrate from bottom to top.   “NO!” he screamed in helpless frustration.   He stood there stone still, watching his friend disappear slice by slice before his eyes.   Sam looked straight into Daniel’s eyes and let out a final wail of agony before her head disappeared. Once her body was gone, the beam disappeared and the cube returned to its original state before they had activated it.   Everything looked as if nothing had happened.   All that remained was the distinct smell of ozone.

Daniel dropped to his knees and sobbed, “Sam…”

At that moment, Jack and Teal’c thundered into the lab, weapons drawn and ready, with Dr. Frasier and a security team on their heels. 

“What happened, Danny? Where’s Sam?” Jack asked after he quickly assessed the threat in the room.

“She’s…gone,” Daniel said weakly.

“Gone? Gone where?” Jack asked.

“No, Jack, “ Daniel began as he got to his feet.   He approached the Colonel and draped his arm over his friend’s strong shoulder for support because he did not trust his legs, “She’s dead.” 

**SGC – Briefing Room – 1300 Wednesday**

“Dr. Jackson, do you mean to tell me that MAJ Carter simply vanished without a trace?” General Hammond probed Daniel after he explained what occurred in the lab. COL O’Neill, Teal’c, and Dr. Frasier were also present at the table.

“More like disintegrated, sir.   It wasn’t instantaneous, either. It seemed very slow and painful.” Daniel’s voice betrayed his emotions as he choked on the last few words. He removed his glasses and with his elbow on the table, rubbed his eyes, emotionally and physically drained.

“There was no evidence left behind, sir,” Dr. Frasier interrupted to give Daniel a break, though her emotions, along with everyone else’s in the room, were barely kept in check. “No ashes, no residue, not even a shadow against the wall like the victims of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.   Isn’t it possible that she was transported elsewhere?”   Janet asked, trying to give everyone a glimmer of hope.

Daniel, feeling more than somewhat responsible, didn’t buy it, “What kind of transport device causes that much pain, Doctor?   We’ve been on various alien transportation systems in the past few years and not one has cause any of us pain.”

Jack responded, still grasping for hope, “Hell, Daniel, even the Stargate causes us discomfort and disorientation at times, especially in the beginning. Remember how cold it gets when we exit?”

“What Sam went through was not discomfort, Jack!   She was in agony! She—” Daniel’s voice broke and couldn’t continue. Memories and emotions flooded him and he simply leaned on the table with his hands over his eyes and wept. “I couldn’t stop it.   I tried, but…”

“Hey, Danny. It’s gonna be OK. We’ll get through this. We’re a team, remember.”   But Jack didn’t believe his own words.   He felt empty and barren, like a large hunk of his insides was ripped out. He’d lost team members before, but never had it been this painful, this close.   Not even when he lost MAJ Kawalski.   His emotions reached a boiling point.   His thoughts of Carter and his feelings for her betrayed his normal cool exterior. His façade was crumbling. He hadn’t been there to help her or to prevent her death.   Memories of his son’s death began to resurface, reminding him of the similarities of this past tragedy to the current one and adding more fuel to his emotional fire.   Surely he could’ve done something.   He should have been there; after all, he was responsible for this whole mess. He ordered her to take the cube home. His words haunted him, _Hell, what could go wrong?_ A single tear leaked from his left eye. He thought about intercepting it before anyone saw it, but decided he didn’t care.

General Hammond, seeing that the debriefing was essentially over, interrupted the pained silence following Jack’s words.   “SG-1, I’m pulling you all from mission status immediately. Get some rest.   We all need to work this out and deal with it in our own way. Dr. Frasier, make an appointment for Dr. Jackson with Dr. MacKenzie,” 

“Yes, sir.”

The General then looked at Daniel, “You might need some extra help with this, Daniel.”

Daniel didn’t acknowledge, but didn’t groan as everyone suspected, either.

“There will be a memorial service for MAJ Carter at 0800 hours tomorrow. Jack, I’d like you to contact the Tok’ra and inform Jacob of what’s happened.   I believe he would want to attend.”

“Ah, yes, sir. I’ll do that,” Jack said reluctantly. He dreaded that call.

“Take whatever time you need, people.   I will support you in any way that I can. Dismissed.”

Everyone rose to leave, but Teal’c spoke up, “General Hammond. What is to become of the cube?”

“That has yet to be determined, Teal’c.”

That set Jack off, “But General, shouldn’t it be returned to P39 etc. etc. or blown up or something. I mean, it’s obviously dangerous.  Can we risk keeping it here?” 

“Look, Jack. I know you feel responsible for what has happened because you ordered the object brought here, but I am not going to risk anyone else touching that artifact until we can determine exactly what happened. It is currently under quarantine and will remain that way until I’m satisfied it is safe to handle again. Then we’ll decide what to do with it.”

“But, sir—“

“Enough, Colonel. I’m not risking another member of my command to that device until I am certain we can control it, or at least safely move it off world.”

Daniel spoke up, “That’s fine, General, but there will be other factions in this government which will want this device for themselves. How will we prevent them from getting it?”

“Good question, Dr. Jackson.   If you all will excuse me, I need to return to my office and make some phone calls dealing with just that scenario.”

With that, General Hammond left the briefing room and returned to his office. After closing the door, he sat at his desk and stared sadly out the windowed map pane into the Briefing room, watching the rest of his personnel make their way out.   When the room was clear, he reached reluctantly to the red phone on his desk.

# SGC – Jack’s Quarters – 1400 Wednesday

“What the hell are we going to do, Jack?”

“What are we going to do?   Daniel, how the hell should I know?   You’ve got the PhD! Haven’t you read a book on how to deal with stuff like this!?”

“Jack, you’re the tough, hard-ass grunt.   You’ve seen death a hundred times.   You’ve lost close friends before, Jack, even your son.”

“Dammit, Daniel!” He stormed away from Daniel and punched his wall locker as hard as he could, “You lost your wife! Don’t tell me how I’m supposed to react!”

“Jack! I—“

“ENOUGH!” Teal’c interrupts with as much emotion as Jack and Daniel had ever seen, “O’Neill! Daniel Jackson! Why have you become so belligerent? Should we not be paying tribute and honor to our fallen comrade?   How then, is this argument of worth?”

Both men took a deep breath and sighed at the Jaffa’s words. “Look, Jack.   I’m sorry about what I said.   It was kind of a low blow.”

“It’s alright, Danny. We’re all pretty emotional right now. I said more than I meant, too.” Jack paused and than reluctantly muttered, while avoiding eye contact, “I’m sorry too,” Jack added, as he moved to wrap an arm around Teal’c and squeeze, “I’m glad we have this big lug to be our conscience.”

“I am glad to be of assistance, O’Neill,” Teal’c responded as he reverently bowed his head and then suggested, “Should we not discuss our memories of Major Carter? Perhaps this might help us honor and mourn her.”

Both Jack and Daniel looked at him, puzzled, then Jack responded, “You’ve been talking with MacKenzie again, haven’t you, Teal’c.”

Teal’c simply cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.   Before anyone could say another word, the intercom came to life, “SG-1, report to the Briefing Room, immediately.”   All three team members glanced at each other briefly, than jogged out into the corridor towards the heart of the SGC.

# SGC – Briefing Room – 1430 Wednesday

Jack and the others walked into the briefing room and immediately went on the offensive. 

“General, what the hell is he doing here?!” Jack shouted, eyeing the arrogant Colonel standing across the room next to General Hammond.

“I’m here to collect a specimen for study.   I hear it’s got quite a bit of power.”

“Oh, I’ve got a specimen for you, Maybourne” Jack stormed around the briefing table, the Colonel’s name crawling from his mouth like a curse. He grabbed Maybourne by the collar of his dress blues uniform with his left hand and pulled him close, preparing a fist with his right, “And right now it’s got enough power to knock you to Abydos without the Stargate.”

“Stand down, Colonel!” General Hammond ordered, “I’ve got orders directly from the President telling me to hand over the cube to COL Maybourne.”

Jack put his fist down, but continued to hold onto Maybourne, whose eyes, after retreating back into his head, now betrayed his relief.

“Sir, you are not seriously considering handing over the cube to this slimy rat turd?!” Jack more stated than asked, shocked.

“Yes, Jack, that is exactly what I plan to do,” the General responded, letting the insult stand, “I’ve got my orders.”

Daniel spoke up, “Sir, what happened with those phone calls you were going to make?”

“Apparently COL Maybourne reached the President’s ear before I could.”

Maybourne pulled himself from O’Neill’s grasp and attempted to straighten his uniform in a useless act of dignity, saying, “The President is extremely interested in a device with an unlimited source of power. Think of the possibilities and even the weapons that may be developed from this.”

“I _am_ thinking about it, you sniveling waste of flesh. I’m thinking about the cost.”

Unaware or ignoring Jack’s true meaning, Maybourne continued as if Jack never spoke, “The President has made it a top priority to discover how this device works and put it to use immediately.   I’ve got some folks at Area 51 who are itching to put this thing to good use.”

“Well, Colonel, you can tell those folks of yours to take some Benadryl for that itch, because I am not releasing the device to you immediately,” General Hammond interjected.

“What?! You can’t do that. The President—”

“The President knows that that device killed one of my personnel. A very valuable member of my command. I’ve ordered the cube quarantined until we can verify it is safe to handle and he agrees with me.”

“Sir, that excuse worked for the Tollans, but I doubt very much it will work here.”

“It’s already worked, Colonel.   Now if you’ll excuse us, SG-1 and I have other matters to discuss.”

“General, you’re only delaying the inevitable.”

“So are you, Colonel. You are dismissed. Now get out of my sight.”

Maybourne huffed once, than turned on his heels and marched out of the room. When the door closed behind him, Jack exclaimed, “Way to go, sir!”

“Don’t congratulate me yet, Colonel.   Maybourne’s right.   I’ve only bought a little time. Very little. I’m sure he’s on the phone right now with the President trying to convince him to lift the quarantine. Hell, the only reason why the President agreed with the quarantine was because it killed MAJ Carter.   He knows Jacob and I managed to use that to our advantage, slim as it may be.”

“Well, sir, at least the Weasel doesn’t have the cube yet. I’m sure an opportunity will present itself. It always does.”

“Whatever you’ve got in mind, Colonel, I don’t want to know.”

# The Cube – 1300 Wednesday

MAJ Carter was lying facedown in a large, empty, metallic room. There was nothing on the walls, ceiling, or floor. The room was lighted, but there was no visible source of that light.   The light was just there.   The room had no entrance or exit.

She awoke and blinked several times, her eyes getting used to the light. Once they adjusted and she tried to sit up, a flood of pain-filled memories rushed through her mind and she collapsed to the ground. She remembered a sharp, biting pain in the center of her chest and than losing her breath as she hit the wall. Then she remembered the agony, as if she were being torn apart from her feet up. Her final memory was seeing Daniel’s anguished face and hearing a loud, anguished and tormented wail that she realized must have been her own. 

Slowly, she tried to sit up again.   This time she was successful and she scanned her surroundings. Noticing the barren room, she became concerned. She didn’t even know how much time had passed. She checked her watch, but it had stopped at about 1230.   She thought it odd that she didn’t feel any residual pain considering the torture she remembered. Then she suddenly realized that she didn’t feel anything.   She couldn’t feel the clothes on her body. She rubbed her hands together and down her face, got up and ran her fingers along the wall, and even tried to pinch and scratch herself. Nothing, even when her nails drew blood.

She would have panicked, but after her painful ordeal, it was almost a relief not to feel anything. She started to meticulously look around the room, trying to find a hidden exit or at least some sort of clue as to where she was.

Suddenly, a loud whirring and chirping echoed in the cavernous room. Sam initially thought it sounded a lot like R2D2 from Star Wars, than quickly banished that idea. She had more important things to focus on. The sound continued, than stopped, than continued again, in what seemed like an identical pattern.

She realized it must be some sort of message, yet she couldn’t decipher it. Still that didn’t mean she shouldn’t try to communicate, “Hello!” she yelled.   “I’m Major Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force. I’m from a planet called Earth. Can you understand me?”

A lens appeared in the wall behind her.   She heard it morph out of the wall and spun around to see what it was. Once she turned around and saw the lens, a faint light shone out and appeared to scan her head from the top to the base of her skull, effectively covering her entire brain. Once the scan was complete, the light extinguished and the lens vanished back into bare wall.

A new voice greeted her, this one tinny and metallic, but at least she could understand it, “Greetings, Major Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force. I am called 75643836547\. You have proven worthy to come this far by activating our gift. Now you must continue and pass the challenge in order to prove your race worthy of our knowledge and our friendship.”

“But who are you and where am I?”

“As I said, I am 756438—“

“I meant your race.”

“I am a Modula. You are inside the cube.”

“Inside?”

“Correct.”

“How?”

“You were digitized.”

“Digitized? You mean I am a computer program?”

“Correct.”

This concerned her, “That was a pretty painful way to make first contact. Can I return to normal?”

“You must first complete the challenge before you can be returned. Please, define pain.”

Picking up on several clues, she suspected this race was at least partially mechanical or robotic in nature.   She struggled to think of how to define pain, “It’s when you feel an unpleasant or even awful sensation due to some external cause.”

“Define feel. Define sensation.”

She realized now why she could feel nothing.   Frustrated, she said, “Forget it.   What is this challenge anyway?”

“You must complete several tests to prove that your species is worthy of contact with ours and is ready for the burden of our knowledge.”

“You mean that if I pass this test, it will initiate first contact with your species?”

“Correct.”

“Then what happens?”

“The Modula will download all their knowledge into the cube and you will be the keeper of that knowledge.”

“What do you mean, keeper of that knowledge?”

“You alone will be allowed access to the knowledge.”

Sam thought for a few moments, “I am assuming you were able to download my knowledge or memory in order to learn my language, right?”

“Correct.”

“Then why the challenge. Can’t you get what you need from that?”

“No. You must pass the challenge. Knowledge is useless without the ability to apply it.”

“OK. What happens if I fail the challenge? “

“You will be returned and the cube will be destroyed.”

Sam was getting quite irritated at having to pull all this information from the entity. “What happened to the last species to obtain this cube?”

“The Remusites misused the power of the cube after passing the challenge.”

“Misused? How?”

“They attempted to create a weapon.   The cube was only made for peaceful use of energy.”

“So if someone attempts to use the cube to create a weapon…?” she prompted.

“Then the cube will send a neutron wave to neutralize all electronic signatures on the planet.”

“A neutron wave? Like a neutron bomb? My God! Yes it would take care of all the electronics. It would also vaporize all living things on the planet.  No wonder there were no bodies on P39-8367 but all the structures were intact.”

“Define living.”

“Organic or biological. The neutron wave would wipe out everything organic across the whole planet!”

“Correct.”

Sam thought of Maybourne and shivered.   “I need to get out of here, now.”

“You must complete the challenge.”

“Fine, where do I start?”

Sam did her best to solve each puzzle and challenge as it was presented to her. Most puzzles were some mathematical formula or logical proof, though some were simple philosophical questions. She felt like she was taking some alien IQ test. 

The puzzles morphed out of the walls of the room.   All were morphed out of different parts of the wall, making Sam travel all over the room. Some puzzles were so simple, she wondered why they were even part of a challenge such as this. Others were so difficult, she wondered for a time if she’d solve them at all.       She had no concept of time. She could have been at this for hours, days, or weeks. A good part about being digitized is that she did not have to deal with any of her normal body functions. She never got hungry and she never had to use a bathroom.   During a break in the puzzles, she wondered if being digitized would have stopped her from menstruating. She immediately passed the idea off as absurd and unimportant and drove on with the challenge. 

She’d done puzzles like this before, like when they attempted to obtain an Asgard weapon to defeat the Goa’uld on Cimmeria.   At least then she had Daniel and Gairwyn to help. Now she felt she was on her own with the fate of Earth in her hands. She considered simply failing all the tests to be returned to the SGC and be reunited with her friends. It would even destroy the cube, which would prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Tempting as that was, she decided to do her best. The discovery of this new, technologically advanced race so willing to share technology with a species they considered ready was too much. She could not forsake this possible technological advantage over the Goa’uld, so she took her time and worked through all the puzzles carefully.

Sam was doing well. She had passed every puzzle put before her. At least, she thought she did since she had not yet been sent back. She just completed a puzzle and was wondering how many more there could be when the voice interrupted her thoughts.

“You have done well, Major Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force. You have only one test left before you. Passing this will trigger a signal to be sent to our homeworld with the coordinates of your Earth. You will be returned to Earth, where you must be present for first contact.”

“OK. I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.”

The wall morphed into what reminded Sam of an Etch-a-Sketch, but she discovered she could draw on it simply with her finger. The voice stated, “Solve this equation,” and a complex equation appeared. Sam’s jaw dropped when she saw the formula:

****

                 &nbsp 5

               &nbsp X

             &nbsp X

           &nbsp X

         &nbsp X

       &nbsp X

     &nbsp X

   &nbsp X  &nbsp                  &nbsp =5 

She simply stared at the formula for several minutes, trying to make sense of it. It actually seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t imagine where she’d seen it before and the solution wasn’t coming to her immediately anyway.   She was going to have to tackle this one systematically.   After her initial doubts, her resolve solidified and she began by breaking the formula down into separate, simpler formulas and taking the logarithms on each side of each formula, however, she quickly lost track of her place and couldn’t make sense of her own work.   She swiped her fingers over her work in frustration, essentially crossing it all out, and took a step away from the wall. She sat down and stared at the formula, her brain racked with the possibilities.   She was thankful that in her digitized state she did not fatigue. Her head would have begun pounding a long time ago. As she thought of other ways to approach the problem, the formula began to fade from the wall.

“Hey! Wait!   I’m not done yet!”

“I am sorry, Major Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force, but our experience shows that if you have not solved this problem by now, you will never solve it.”

“Dammit, I just…need…more…” she slowed as an idea formed, “I got it! Wait. Wait.   I know the answer!”

“Fine.”

The formula solidified again on the Etch-a-Sketch wall. She was doing the right process but making it way too complex. She realized the only way to solve this formula was by substitution.   Instead of taking the entire formula into account, she focused only on x^x^5=5. She unconsciously spoke the solution out loud as she worked, “I need two separate formulas, y=x^5 and x^y=5.” 

Sam’s fingers worked feverishly over the wall, working through the problem step by step. She knew she would be sweating if she’d not been transformed into some sort of computer program. “If I take the logarithm of both sides of each equation I can simplify it to get y*ln(y)=5*ln(5). Now that obviously works out to y=5. If I substitute that back up, I get 5=x^5. Which means…x=5^1/5!” She shouted excitedly. She then checked her work by substituting that value for x into the original complex formula.   It worked.

“Yes!” Sam shouted triumphantly as she circled her solution with her finger and underlined it multiple times.

“Congratulations, Major Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force. You have successfully completed the challenge. You have proven your race worthy of our knowledge and technology.   The coordinates to your planet have been uploaded to our systems. A representative will visit your world immediately.   You must be in attendance. You will be returned to your original state.”

“Hey, 75643—ummm. Hey, thanks.”

“Define thanks.”

Sam smiled, “Nevermind.”

# SGC – Lab – 2000 Wednesday

“I do not believe this is a wise idea, O’Neill,” Teal’c stated in his usual matter-of-fact tone.

“Since when do I have wise ideas?” Jack responded.

“Indeed,” Teal’c agreed with a lift of his eyebrow.

Jack just looked at him incredulously for a second than continued into the lab.

“I agree with you, Teal’c,” Daniel said, “But I also know that we cannot let this cube fall into Maybourne’s hands.   We’ve got to risk it.”

Teal’c simply bowed his head in acquiescence. 

SG-1 was decked out in full battle-rattle, all black for night ops with their weapons at their sides, just in case they needed to destroy the cube. They planned on sneaking the cube off world to the Tollans, who they figured would have enough technology to understand it and use it properly.   The Tollans were right, of course.   There are enough humans out there who would willingly create weapons of mass destruction out of whatever technology they could acquire all in the name of national defense.

SG-1 cautiously approached the cube.   They hoped no one heard the discharges from the Zat-gun that Jack used to stun the guards outside the lab.

“So, Daniel, how do we handle this thing?”

“I dunno, Jack. I can’t tell if it is still active from when Sam and I activated it.”

“It looks pretty dead to me.”

“Looks can be deceiving, O’Neill,” Teal’c observed.

“I’ve been on enough dates to have learned that lesson,” Jack replied.

“I imagine all we can do is pick it up and hope for the best,” Daniel stated.

“Hope is not a course of action, Daniel, but here goes anyway. Get the pack ready, so I can drop this thing in it quickly.”

Teal’c opened the hard plastic pack he carried, revealing the protective foam inside. 

Jack squinted his eyes and attempted to keep as far from the cube as he could while reaching with his right hand and poking it a couple of times with a finger. When nothing happened, he stated, “Seems harmless,” and wrapped his fingers around it to pick it up. At that moment he got an electric shock that made him pull his hand away.   The cube began to glow and pulse with power again.   SG-1 stared in shock for a second, than Daniel shouted, “Hit the deck, it’s happening again!”

Everyone dove for cover. Jack ended up on the ground in front of the cube.   He turned onto his back and watched a bright, thin beam of blue light streak over him.   It stopped short right above him and the end began to coalesce into a blue blob of energy. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he thought he saw locks of blonde hair appear, strip by strip within the blue blob. He was just as shocked as the rest of the familiar body formed.   He didn’t understand what was happening, but he also didn’t care. His heart jumped in hope.   Suddenly, the body was complete and the energy blob and light beam abruptly disappeared, dropping the body it had been suspending directly on Jack.

Jack grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away slightly so he could see her face. She blinked her eyes a few times, waiting for them to focus until they locked with his. Sam saw the recognition and emotions in his eyes and simply whispered with a smile, “Hi, sir.”

Jack pulled her close and kissed her full on the lips. Sam’s eyes grew wide for a second than closed, ecstatic to be able to feel again.   After a moment, Jack remembered who and where he was, and pulled his lips away reluctantly. He still held her close when Daniel and Teal’c appeared from around a lab desk to check on Jack and see what had happened.

“Sam!” Daniel shouted and stumbled all over himself in his rush to help her up. He took her in his arms and hugged her tightly, “We thought you were dead.   I saw you disin—disappear. “

She kissed Daniel on the cheek as she pulled away to greet Teal’c who grabbed her hand and bowed his head to her.   “I am most pleased that you are still with us, Major Carter,” Teal’c said with an uncharacteristic smile.   Sam leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, too. Teal’c simply raised an eyebrow.

Jack rose to his feet by that time and asked, “What happened?”

Sam explained her whole ordeal.   She also explained what was about to happen and what kind of power the cube possessed.

“A neutron wave? Sounds like a mixed drink. What are we talking about here, Carter?” Jack asked.

“It’s pretty easy, sir. It simply a wave front of sub-atomic particles, neutrons, than when released—“

“Ack!” Jack exclaimed, holding up his hand to signal her to stop, “In English, please Major.”

Sam and Daniel shared a quick look and a grin, “Sir, it’s a wave of unstoppable energy that will destroy every living thing on the planet.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard.   So what do we do to stop it?”

“We’ll find out when the Modula get here.”

“Maybourne wants this thing, you know.   He’ll make it into that neuron wave thingy. We were going to bring it to the Tollans”

“Neutron wave, sir. I don’t think that is wise right now, sir.”

“Why not?”

“Because the cube told me that a representative from the Modula would be dispatched to visit immediately.   I must be there to greet them and I’ll bet they’ll want to see the cube.”

“To try an make sure we’re not using it improperly,” Daniel observed.

“Right. Maybe we can give it back to them when they arrive, sir.”

“But we don’t even know when they’ll show up, Carter.”

“Sir, they are highly advanced.   If they come by ship, I’d be willing to bet they could get here about as quickly as the Asgard could.”

“Well, we can sit around and discuss this all night, but we need to do something.” He started walking for the door. Sam put the cube in Teal’c’s pack and they all started to follow.   “I’ll bet dimes to doughnuts that that loser Maybourne will have what he needs to get the cube in the morning.”

“Actually, Jack, I’ve got what I need right now,” a voice came from outside the lab. Maybourne stepped into the doorway with several of his own security personnel in tow. SG-1 raised their weapons, as did Maybourne’s security. “A neutron wave, huh Major Carter? Sounds like an impressive weapon to use against the Goa’uld. I can’t let you get rid of it. And since you have verified the cube is safe to handle, the quarantine no longer exists. You will hand it over, now, Jack.”

It was a standoff, but Jack knew he couldn’t win since Maybourne’s goons outnumbered them 2 to 1. Plus, he really didn’t like the idea of killing Americans, even if they did work for Maybourne. They were simply following orders. He lowered his rifle. “Daniel. Teal’c.   The weasel wins this round.   Lower your weapons.”

They did so. Maybourne’s security immediately confiscated them and the case with the cube. They grabbed SG-1 and escorted them out of the lab, following Maybourne.

“It’s time to inform General Hammond of this development. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you Major Carter.”

# SGC – Briefing Room – 2030 Wednesday

They made their way to the briefing room.   General Hammond had apparently been pulling an all-nighter on the phone trying to convince the powers-that-be not to give the cube to Maybourne. When he saw Maybourne enter with a security detachment escorting SG-1, he hung up the phone quickly and stormed out of his office.

“What the hell is going on here, Colonel?   This is my facility.   What gives you the right to bring armed troops in here and detain one of my teams?”

“General, I’ve been ordered by the President to claim the cube once the quarantine was lifted. SG-1 here was handling the cube, sir, so I believed the quarantine was lifted. Besides, it apparently wasn’t as dangerous as you thought since Major Carter here is alive and well.”

The General got past his anger for a second and realized for the first time that Major Carter was present in the group.   He gave her a quick, relief-filled glance, but didn’t allow his emotions to cause him to lose focus, “That still doesn’t give you the right to take my personnel into custody at gunpoint, Colonel.”

“Sir, from the episode in this room earlier, I felt a little protection for myself was warranted. I knew Colonel O’Neill would not react rationally to losing.”

Jack reacted by charging Maybourne, “Why you, little—“ but he was quickly caught by Maybourne’s goons.   He struggled slightly, but knew it was futile.

“Maybourne, you are out of line!   I want you out of my facility immediately.”

Before Maybourne could answer, the SGC alarms sounded. The intercom boomed, “Unauthorized Inbound Traveler! Closing the iris.”

Everyone immediately forgot their current woes and ran to the control room. The wormhole formed behind the iris. Tech Sergeant Davis stated, “Sir, there is an incoming message.”

“Put it on the speakers,” ordered the General.

Through the speakers came an odd chirping and whirring sound.

Jack, shocked that he heard what he thought was R2D2, said, “Dammit, if Luke Skywalker walks through that gate, I’m retiring, sir.   Again. This is just too damn weird for me.”

“General, it’s the Modula.   Open the iris.”

“The who, Major Carter?”

“Open the iris, sir. I’ll explain later.”

“Open the iris, sergeant.”

The iris blossomed open as SG-1, General Hammond, Maybourne and his goons all ran into the embarkation room.   They waited at the bottom of the ramp, expectantly.

“Lower your weapons,” Major Carter ordered.   General Hammond nodded, and the Stargate security team lowered theirs. Maybourne’s team, however, kept theirs drawn and ready.

“COL Maybourne, you will have your team lower their weapons immediately. I’ll not have you start an intergalactic incident in my Gateroom.”

Maybourne acquiesced and signaled his security team to stand down. He didn’t care, anyway. He got what he came for.   He was tempted to leave right then and there, but his curiosity got the better of him.

Two mechanical figures stepped from the event horizon, their metal walkers clanked on the ramp. They had six long spider-like legs that carried a wide, cylindrical torso. They had appendages, not quite arms, on all sides of their torso, each with different tools, for grasping, cutting, welding, etc. The appendages were set into their torso so that they could rotate 360 degrees around their bodies. Their heads were triangular and insectile, similar to a praying mantis. Their half globe-shaped eyes were set in a way that allowed them to a 360-degree field of view. Several antennas and other unknown protrusions and bumps were visible on their heads and the rest of their bodies. One was purely slate gray while the other’s head was tinted a metallic red.

The “Red-Head” as Jack would later refer to it, spoke, “Greetings. I am 11432564756 of the Modula. You have proven your worth as a race and readiness to share knowledge and technology with the Modula.   Where is Major Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force?”

Sam stepped forward, “I am here.”

“You must show us the cube before we will progress further.”

“What? Why?”   Maybourne exclaimed nervously.

Red-Head answered, “We will download all our knowledge into it. Than you can access it whenever you wish.” 

Everyone in SG-1 groaned under their breath, but they all maintained their composure. This may be their chance to turn the tide against Maybourne.

“Colonel, I imagine that cube will be worth a lot more with all the Modula’s knowledge downloaded into it,” Major Carter suggested.

Maybourne barely thought about it, the prospect of the additional knowledge feeding his ambition, “Absolutely, Major.”

“Hand me the cube, sir. I need to be the one to bring it to the Modula.”

“Oh, of course.” He opened the case he was carrying and held it forward so Sam could remove the cube. After she picked up the cube, she glanced at Jack and gave him a silent nod, signaling him to be ready to improvise.

She approached the Modula with the cube outstretched before her. When it was within reach, Red-Head rotated his appendages until a grasping claw was available and gently took the cube from Sam’s grasp. It used another nearby appendage to connect into a slot that materialized on one side of the cube. When it was done, it returned the cube to Sam. She turned around to face the group and slowly walked back towards them.

Red-Head began to speak, “Now you have the knowledge of the Modula. Major Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force may access the knowledge any time she wishes.   Use the knowledge well.   Use it to better your species.”

Maybourne was shocked. He, like the others, caught the string attached to using the knowledge cube. “Wait a minute.   You mean only Major Carter will be able to access the knowledge in the cube?”

“Correct. Others attempting to access the knowledge will be blocked.   Multiple or malicious attempts to access the knowledge by others will cause a neutron wave.”

Realizing he’d been tricked, Maybourne rushed Sam and grappled with her to get the cube. SG-1 sprang into action. Jack attempted to get at Maybourne, but Maybourne’s security stopped him.   The gate security team joined without need for General Hammond’s word, though he did give it.   The entire scene erupted into an all out brawl at the foot of the Stargate. No one fired their weapons because they were in such close quarters with everyone else.   SG-1 and the Stargate security team were able to subdue Maybourne’s thugs, but not before Maybourne got the cube.

“I will not let you waste this opportunity!   This discovery could become our greatest weapon against the Goa’uld!” he shouted as he wrestled with Carter for the cube. He slapped her across the face with the back of his hand, drawing blood from the corner of her mouth and knocking her to the floor. He wrested the cube from her grasp on her way down.

“Carter!” Jack yelled as he rushed to her side.

             Maybourne stood in triumph over Carter, cradling the cube in his hands with a wide grin that accentuated the gap in his teeth. Clearly, he’d forgotten about the Modula behind him.   “I will find a way to access this knowledge and use it to destroy the Goa’uld!”

“Mayboure, have you gone wacked?   You’re not leaving this facility with that cube.”

“You are correct,” came the metallic answer from behind Maybourne, who spun around in surprise. “It is apparent that, although Major Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force is ready for this knowledge, the rest of her species is not.”

With that, a small L-shaped antenna on Red-Head’s red head wiggled back and forth twice.

The cube in Maybourne’s hands glowed brilliant white. Maybourne cried in pain and dropped the cube, tending to his burnt hands. The cube burned to ashes as it fell. The ashes disintegrated before they touched the floor, leaving no trace of the cube behind.

The two Modula rotated their torsos on their legs and walked back towards the Stargate, which began to dial on its own.   They walked through the event horizon once established without a word or further fanfare. The entire Gateroom was silent, save for the Gate activation alarm and sound of the wormhole itself.

# Epilogue – SGC – Commissary – 0730 Thursday

SG-1 sat around a table eating breakfast and chatting over the events of the past couple of days.

“It’s a shame Red-Head destroyed all that knowledge.   It could’ve been very useful,” Jack stated.

“Are you kidding, sir?” Sam replied, “I’m relieved.   I never want to get digitized again.”

“It really didn’t look like a pleasant experience, Jack,” Daniel commented, sympathetically.

“It wasn’t,” Sam agreed, with a shiver.

“Yeah, but think about this.   You became downloadable. Just think what that could do for the Internet porn industry.”

Daniel and Sam’s eyes got wide.   They glanced at each other and than back to Jack.

“Um, err. I didn’t mean you, I—Aw, forget it.”

They all laughed. Even Teal’c smiled, out of character. 

Daniel changed the subject, “Sam, since the Modula used our own dialing system to Gate home, were we able to obtain their Gate address? Maybe we can visit them and smooth things over a bit. Try again, at least.”

“No, Daniel. They wiped every reference to their address from the dialing computers memory.   I wouldn’t be surprised if they removed their address from the dialing database altogether, assuming it was there to begin with, that is. Besides, I doubt they’d want to talk to us now. They seem to hold worthiness in very high esteem and we were deemed unworthy.   I don’t think that will be recoverable.   We’re probably lucky they didn’t wipe us out with a neutron wave right then and there.”

As they were finishing up their meals, Jack stated, “You know, Carter. We were supposed to be doing a memorial service for you coming up in a little while.”

“Really?”

“Of course. With all the excitement last night, I forgot to contact the Tok’ra to let Jacob know you were all right.”

“What? Jack, you didn’t?” Sam asked disappointedly, already knowing the answer.

“Hey, I’m sorry. My brain has a lot more space left in it than yours.   He and Martouf should be Gating in at any moment. We should all probably be there to greet them.”

Everyone agreed and rose from the table.   As they walked down the corridor to the Gateroom, Jack pulled Sam aside and told the others to go ahead.   Jack looked furtively down both ends of the corridor to ensure no one was in earshot, “Carter, what happened in the lab…I…we…it…uh…er…Ack!”

“I know, Colonel. It will stay between us.”

Their eyes locked for a moment, both knowing what the other wanted and both knowing it was impossible.   

Their reverie was broken by the Gate alarm and the intercom announcing, “Incoming traveler!”

“Time to go, “Jack said. With that, they both jogged down the corridor to the Gateroom.

**The End**

  


* * *

> May 30, 2004 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp.  
> The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters  
> who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names,   
> titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.   
> 

* * *

  



End file.
